What Do We Hunger For?

Piece from a broken, Roman cistern.

 “A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Wikipedia.


At one time, God said, “For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned me— the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!”  Jeremiah 2:13


We cannot live long without water. We can live longer, but not forever, without food. God uses many symbols throughout the Bible to give us a mental picture of life with or without him. Eating and drinking seems to be the most common symbol.


The verse above came to me when I was reading about Jesus speaking to the people he had fed with the bread and fish. Excited about getting free food, the people had at first tried to force Jesus to be King of Israel, but he stopped them and sent them home. The next day the people searched for Jesus and found him. They wanted him to be their ruler and make sure they had miraculous food all the time.


Some of them said, “Sir, give us this bread every day.”


Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Everyone who comes to me will never hunger and everyone who believes in me will never thirst.”             John 6:35,35


When the people heard this, most of them turned away from Jesus and didn’t follow him any longer. They realized he would not be the kind of king they desired. 


I’ve read about this many times, but sometimes when I am reading the Bible, the words seem to jump out at me and shine brightly. As I thought about what Jesus had said about drinking from him, I remembered what he said to the woman at the well.


He said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It will become a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”   John 4:14 


Jesus also said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to be a good person (or, for righteousness), for they will be satisfied.”   Matthew 5:6


So, I asked myself, “What have I hungered and thirsted for in this life?”


In my teens, a boyfriend to love me and babies to hold. In my twenties, a happy marriage and more money. Well, I did get the babies! And that was a fantastic gift from God. I also got a divorce and a second marriage. 


I did want to be a good person too. I wanted to be like God. But in my twenties and thirties, I would say the love of a man was what I most hungered and thirsted for. And when that love, or lack of love, was in bad shape, I was in bad shape too. 


I think in my forties and fifties, it was the love of my children and grandchildren I thirsted for the most. They became my idols. I was with God, yes. He lived in me, helped me and kept me going. But deep down I didn’t really believe he loved me, which kept me at arms length, I think. I liked having God in my life, but loving him was difficult.


In my sixties, I have finally fallen in love with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are my everything, and give me so much joy. I do believe they love me.


I have found the love I hungered for in this world was not good enough when I got it. It never measured up to my expectations; it never filled me up; it never satisfied me. People can never do that for us; they are only human. They cannot be everything we need, but God can be and will be if we eat and drink from him through pouring out our hearts to him in prayer and studying his words in the Bible.

Are Christians Allowed to Fight?

"But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.   Matthew 5:39

I have had trouble with this verse all my life. I thought it meant to never fight anyone for any reason. One day, the woman who lived next door to us was out on our lawn screaming. We looked out and saw her ex-husband was beating her. I called 911 while my husband ran outside. He tackled the man and threw him on the ground. He put his foot on his chest and told him to lie there until the police came.

I believe we did what was right to do. But then I would come to this verse about not resisting evil and not understand. I used to wonder if we were supposed to fight Hitler. That seemed right to me too. Last night, I thought I would see what Bible commentators said about it. This has helped me understand what Jesus meant. So, if you are interested in this subject, here are two commentaries I found on Bible Hub, which is a wonderful sight for studying the Bible.

Barne's Notes on the Bible.

An eye for an eye ... - This command is found in Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20, and Deuteronomy 19:21. In these places it was given as a rule to regulate the decisions of judges. They were to take eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, and to inflict burning for burning. As a judicial rule it is not unjust. Christ finds no fault with the rule as applied to magistrates, and does not take upon himself to repeal it. 

But instead of confining it to magistrates, the Jews had extended it to private conduct, and made it the rule by which to take revenge. They considered themselves justified by this rule to inflict the same injury on others that they had received. Our Saviour remonstrates against this. He declares that the law had no reference to private revenge, that it was given only to regulate the magistrate, and that their private conduct was to be governed by different principles.

The general principle which he laid down was, that we are not to resist evil; that is, as it is in the Greek, nor to set ourselves against an evil person who is injuring us. But even this general direction is not to be pressed too strictly. Christ did not intend to teach that we are to see our families murdered, or be murdered ourselves; rather than to make resistance. 

The law of nature, and all laws, human and divine, justify self-defense when life is in danger. It cannot surely be the intention to teach that a father should sit by coolly and see his family butchered by savages, and not be allowed to defend them. Neither natural nor revealed religion ever did, or ever can, inculcate this doctrine. Our Saviour immediately explains what he means by it. Had he intended to refer it to a case where life is in danger, he would most surely have mentioned it. Such a case was far more worthy of statement than those which he did mention.

A doctrine so unusual, so unlike all that the world had believed. and that the best people had acted on, deserved to be formally stated. Instead of doing this, however, he confines himself to smaller matters, to things of comparatively trivial interest, and says that in these we had better take wrong than to enter into strife and lawsuits. The first case is where we are smitten on the cheek. Rather than contend and fight, we should take it patiently, and turn the other cheek. 

This does not, however, prevent our remonstrating firmly yet mildly on the injustice of the thing, and insisting that justice should be done us, as is evident from the example of the Saviour himself. See John 18:23. 

The second evil mentioned is where a man is litigious and determined to take all the advantage the law can give him, following us with vexatious and expensive lawsuits. Our Saviour directs us, rather than to imitate him rather than to contend with a revengeful spirit in courts of justice to take a trifling injury, and yield to him. This is merely a question about property, and not about conscience and life.

Elliott's Commentary for English Readers.

Resist not evil.—The Greek, as before in Matthew 5:37, may be either masculine or neuter, and followed as it is by “whosoever,” the former seems preferable; only here it is not “the evil one,” with the emphasis of pre-eminence, but, as in 1Corinthians 5:13, the human evil-doer. Of that mightier “evil one” we are emphatically told that it is our duty to resist him (James 4:7).

Shall smite.—The word was used of blows with the hand or with a stick, and for such blows fines from a shekel upwards were imposed by Jewish courts.

Turn to him the other also.—We all quote and admire the words as painting an ideal meekness. But most men feel also that they cannot act on them literally; that to make the attempt, as has been done by some whom the world calls dreamers or fanatics, would throw society into confusion and make the meek the victims. The question meets us, therefore, Were they meant to be obeyed in the letter; and if not, what do they command?

 And the answer is found (l) in remembering that our Lord Himself, when smitten by the servant of the high priest, protested, though He did not resist (John 18:22-23), and that St. Paul, under like outrage, was vehement in his rebuke (Acts 23:3); and (2) in the fact that the whole context shows that the Sermon on the Mount is not a code of laws, but the assertion of principles.

And the principle in this matter is clearly and simply this, that the disciple of Christ, when he has suffered wrong, is to eliminate altogether from his motives the natural desire to retaliate or accuse. As far as he himself is concerned, he must be prepared, in language which, because it is above our common human strain, has stamped itself on the hearts and memories of men, to turn the left cheek when the right has been smitten. But the man who has been wronged has other duties which he cannot rightly ignore. The law of the Eternal has to be asserted, society to be protected, the offender to be reclaimed, and these may well justify—though personal animosity does not—protest, prosecution, punishment.

You Are Never too Young to Work for God.

I was listening to a sermon on-line and the speaker said Jesus was 28 years old when he preached the Sermon on the Mount. I'd forgotten how young Jesus was when he first started preaching. And in that sermon he turned the religious teachings of the day upside down.

He said to the people, you have been told by religious leaders this - but I'm saying something new. No wonder the religious leaders hated him. He was undermining their authority and position before the people.

Jesus was 28 and he had never gone to the religious schools of the day. He knew how to read and had read the scriptures for himself. He was full of the Holy Spirit who taught him what to say. Remember Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me." John 8:28

God has used many young people to do his work. Age and education are no barriers for God.

 Dwight L. Moody began to work for God at age 18.

Dwight L. Moody didn't attend school beyond the fifth grade; he couldn't spell, and his grammar was awful. His manners were often brash and crude, and he never became an ordained minister. Once, before his conversion, he so outraged an Italian shoe salesmen with a prank, that the man chased him with a sharp knife, clearly intending to kill him. Yet, Dwight L. Moody was used by God to lead thousands of people to Christ. Moody's life of Christian service began with his conversion on this day, April 21, 1855. 
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/dwight-l-moody-was-converted-11630499.html

William Booth preached his first sermon at 23 years old.

William Booth (10 April 1829 – 20 August 1912) was a British Methodist preacher who founded The Salvation Army and became its first General (1878–1912). The Christian movement with a quasi-military structure and government founded in 1865 has spread from London, England, to many parts of the world and is known for being one of the largest distributors of humanitarian aid.

Jeremiah was young when the Lord called him.

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”  Jeremiah 1:4-10

If the Lord calls you, don't worry about how young you are or of what your education consists. He can use you to his glory for nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Selections from Matthew Chapter 5.

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgement. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.